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Saudis drive demand for demand for second nationality

Legislative changes in some Caribbean countries have reduced the cost of becoming a citizen by half

Demand is primarily driven by political and economic distress in the region, as well as by increasingly stringent immigration policies for Arab nationals in in Europe and the United States

By Bernd Debusmann Jr

Tue 02 Jan 2018 09:05 AM

High net worth families and residents in Saudi Arabia have contributed to a 70 percent increase in demand for second European and Caribbean nationality in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to new data from Citizenship Invest.

According to the company, which specialises in helping people obtain citizenships, the demand is primarily driven by political and economic distress in the region, as well as by increasingly stringent immigration policies for Arab nationals in in Europe and the United States.

The top three nationalities that contributed to this spike were Yemenis (31 percent), Syrians (15 percent) and Lebanese (8 percent).

Citizenship Invest also attributes the latest increase in demand to legislative amendments in Caribbean nations such as Saint Kitts and Nevis, Dominica and Antigua and Barbados, which have decreased application costs by 50 percent.

“We have been seeing a great increase in the number of families applying over single applicants,” Citizenship Invest CEO Veronica Cotdemiey said.

“The main reason is that countries like Saint Kitts and Nevis and Antigua and Barbuda are accepting a family of four members for just over SAR 500,000 ($133,535) when only two months ago the same would have cost over SAR 1 million ($267,000).”